I was looking at Christmas decorations on my way to Henderson yesterday. Yep, some days I turn right instead of left at the end of our path which carries me to downtown Henderson, instead of downtown Louisburg. Henderson has a Walmart too. Same old stuff, different crowd...but they do have a fabric department. :) Henderson also has Belk's and JC Penny.
Some of the decorated houses and yards I saw along the way were beautiful but then others made me appreciate my decorating a little more.
Anyway, I was looking at Christmas decorations and remembering mama and daddy.
It would have back in the early 1950's. We were in the car on a Christmas Eve going up to see Mary and Clyde and their children. It was at the edge of dark, and mama was pointing out all the lighted Christmas trees you could see in the homes along the way. "Oh, look at this one", she would say. "The blue lights are my favorite, blue looks so cold"! Remember those old plastic tiered lights. You could see a little house sitting way off the road with blue candles burning in the front window. I remembered daddy too that same night seeing a deer by the road. He said, "look, a reindeer! That might be one of Santa's reindeer"! Oh the excitement!
I miss them even more this time of the year. I just may buy a set of those old plastic candles and put blue lights in the front window. Most thrift stores have these old Christmas candles. Speaking of thrift stores, I went in a small one in Henderson yesterday. Didn't find much except this pretty sugar bowl and cream pitcher for $3.00...
You know my plans yesterday were to gather cedar and pine and finish decorating. Well folks, it rained all day. All day! Not even once did the rain let up. At bedtime the rain was coming down even harder. We've had lots of cold, dreary, rainy, windy days lately.
But wait...here's the view from our bedroom window early this morning...
Wow! That's the sun coming up on this cold wet winter morning!
Better get busy before this day is gone too! Hope to be back soon!
Love,
Henny
Some of the decorated houses and yards I saw along the way were beautiful but then others made me appreciate my decorating a little more.
Anyway, I was looking at Christmas decorations and remembering mama and daddy.
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| Natural Bridge, Va. 1940's |
I miss them even more this time of the year. I just may buy a set of those old plastic candles and put blue lights in the front window. Most thrift stores have these old Christmas candles. Speaking of thrift stores, I went in a small one in Henderson yesterday. Didn't find much except this pretty sugar bowl and cream pitcher for $3.00...
But wait...here's the view from our bedroom window early this morning...
Wow! That's the sun coming up on this cold wet winter morning!
Better get busy before this day is gone too! Hope to be back soon!
Love,
Henny
Oh I don't like those inflatable decorations either. I would rather see the old fashion plastic ones. There are still some around here that decorate their whole yard with the plastic decoration. I will have to take a picture of them. I love the old fashion decorations myself or homemade. My mother in law received an corn husk nativity set for an hostess gift. I love it and want to make one now. I have some corn husk ornaments i bought at Pope's in Robbins 35 years ago that I still use on my tree. I am sure some people would have throw them away along time ago. Oh well I can not wait to see the rest of your decorations. I love Christmas but I miss my parents also.
ReplyDeleteLove you
Hey Vicki, I love the old things too. Maybe I should not have said that about those inflatable characters. Even those might look good but I've never seen any of them inflated. Someone near town has a whole inflatable airport with Santa and his elf, but I've never seen it inflated. It looks like piles of colored plastic bags scattered about the yard. A real eye sore! :) Love you!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you about those inflatable yard characters. I can't call them decorations. We went to a party last Sunday and passed 4 houses in a row where the front yards were full of those deflated things. Talk about ugly! It looked like someone had strewn the yards with trash. My favorite decorations from my childhood in the fifties are the bubble lights for the tree. I was fascinated with them; I still am, a little. They're special to me. I love a tree full of lights. A couple of years ago my husband got new LED lights for our tree. He had to go back for more. Then he had to go back for more again. He put 9 strands of a hundred lights on the tree. It's gorgeous! He didn't just put the lights out on the tips of the branches, he worked them back toward the trunk. We never take them off. We cover the tree with old sheets and store it with the lights on it.
ReplyDeleteOh Peg, I was so worried about hurting someone's feelings, I went back to my post and deleted the part about those inflatable things. Then I saw your comment and Vic's below. Whew! Thanks! Your tree sounds just beautiful! All those lights. It's good that you don't have to take them off every year.
DeleteI totally agree with you about the inflatable Christmas decorations (?). I think they are just atrocious when inflated and even worse when deflated and laying abandoned in the yard as they so often are. There was an article in our paper just today about the wonderful holiday displays locally that we could drive by and admire (?). The article, complete with picture, described one such collection which was started in 2001 with just one inflatable Santa which has grown to number 61. What a conglomeration! I just don't understand this mind-set.
ReplyDeleteI love the sunrise view out your bedroom window. That's one thing that I would change if possible in this house. Our bedroom window faces due west which makes it very shadowy in the morning and hard to wake up in. That's my excuse for being such a late sleeper.
Dear Vic, you will probably see in my reply to Peg above that I deleted what I wrote about those inflatable things. I do hate them! Neither do I understand that mind-set. And to have 61! Like Peg said, deflated, those things look like trash in the yard. Thank you!
DeleteMy daughter's MIL commented that those inflatable yard decorations must not work very well, since she sees them laying flat in everyone's yards...lol
ReplyDeleteI get very nostalgic around Christmas, holding all those childhood memories close to my heart, the English traditions, tried and true for hundreds of years, and I try so very hard to recreate those feelings for my own family.
We pull Christams Crackers, and giggle at the silly jokes, play with the novelties inside, and wear the paper hats throughout the day.
Magical memories !
Love the pictures of your mum and dad and you, so sweet.
~Jo
Jo, I can only imagine how beautiful and enjoyable your home must be at Christmas time. Those inflatable things must not work at all cause I've never seen standing up. :)
DeleteBeautiful pictures of your parents, they must bring back some wonderful memories for you. The weather here is not much better, really cold windy and miserable.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Finally today we got a little sunshine...but windy!
DeleteYour father's double-breasted suit is so dapper! I love the portrait of you three.
ReplyDeleteWe do have an old tiered light of three, the plastic yellowed with age. I put it in my grandson's room when they come for Christmas.
Funny how men used to wear suits all the time. I've known daddy to go fishing in his suit. I'm really going to buy one of those old candles for the window. Thank you Marty!
DeleteI still have some of the plastic candles for the window. I think they were my grandma's. I love to see them in windows, lighting someone's way home. I hope you were able to get outside and cut boughs for decorating. The sunrise looked promising!
ReplyDeleteI did get outside today and cut the greenery. :) There is something special about candle lights in a window.
DeleteLovely sunrise
ReplyDeleteIt was good to have the sun again.
DeleteHenny, it is hard to get excited about the inflatable characters, I agree. Maybe some little kids think they look like cartoons, but I would have been scared of them! Your little sugar bowl and cream pitcher are darling. Don't you wonder if they were brought out for Christmas every year at someones home? They will look perfect for some tea or coffee with your Christmas cookies!
ReplyDeleteYour parents look so nicely dressed with their sweet daughter, and it is amazing how much Lynn resembles your Mama!
Yes, I want to use the sugar bow and cream pitcher. Now if I can just get someone to stop by for coffee or tea, and my cookies. :) Thank you Pam.
DeleteHolidays evoke memories. I'm glad you have good ones.
ReplyDeleteI like your thrift shop find!
Thank you Linda. I probably go on too much about my childhood.
DeleteThe cold drearies are here this morning and I have so much to do!! I love my childhood Christmas memories and I think that is why I love this time of year so much.. I've been wanting to find some white candles for my windows. I'm too lazy to put outside lights up this year.
ReplyDeleteMe too. I just don't want to put anything outside this year. :)
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